" The NCAA is on the verge of expanding the men's basketball tournament from 65 to 68 teams beginning next year and has a new, $10.8 billion TV deal that will allow it to show every game live.

The NCAA said Thursday that the Division I Men's Basketball Committee unanimously passed the proposal and it will now be reviewed by the Board of Directors on April 29.

The NCAA also said it reached a new, 14-year agreement with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. that is worth more than $10.8 billion. The deal, which runs from 2011 through 2024, will show every game live across four national networks for the first time. "

I dislike this. The result will be three more marginal "major" teams in the tournament and the "minor" conference teams with automatic bids will simply move down the seeding pecking order to fight for the right to take a shot at their respective #1 seed Goliaths.

I could go for this if they made the last 4 teams in play the "play-in game" for the right to be a 10 or 11 seed; that might be worth seeing but my guess is the big conferences would never allow this.

I agree - do not make any of the conference champs play in the 4 play in games. Make it those bubble teams, that probably should not have been in there in the first place.

The conference champs have already played their way into the tournament. Make it those last 8 teams fighting for an at-large bid, and give them the 4 12 seeds. Make them actually play their way into the tournament.

Or just cut it back to 64.

Agreed that the last 8 teams in should be playing these games and become 12 or 13 seeds. The little guys earned their way in already. Besides the MEAC/Big South champs play in game will not get the ratings of a SEC/Big 10 middle of the pack matchup.

all this earning your way in by beating a bunch of bad teams in a bad conference talk is awful. most small conference champions shouldnt even be there to begin with.

get rid of automatic bids.

vandy then what is the point of the teams playing!? dumbass

uh, did you make a coherent point?

Quote: Originally Posted By cthomas22255 on 4/22/2010" The NCAA is on the verge of expanding the men's basketball tournament from 65 to 68 teams beginning next year and has a new, $10.8 billion TV deal that will allow it to show every game live.

The NCAA said Thursday that the Division I Men's Basketball Committee unanimously passed the proposal and it will now be reviewed by the Board of Directors on April 29.

The NCAA also said it reached a new, 14-year agreement with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. that is worth more than $10.8 billion. The deal, which runs from 2011 through 2024, will show every game live across four national networks for the first time. "

LOVE the part I bolded there. That way, when Morgan St. is getting stomped but they keep showing them because they're the local team, I can just switch games.

agreed, seeing every game was well overdo, especially during times like the sweet 16

everyone who told me i was an idiot and should stop complaining and go online to watch games, when i said it was totally ridiculous you couldn't see all the games on TV already - suck it.

Quote: Originally posted by vandydave on 4/22/2010all this earning your way in by beating a bunch of bad teams in a bad conference talk is awful. most small conference champions shouldnt even be there to begin with. get rid of automatic bids.

Technically I think you are right VD, although as I'm fond of saying if the qualifier "technically" describes your argument then your argument is not strong.
To me those small teams are part of the magic of the tournament, when david does defeat goliath. As a Cyclone fan I know of which I speak; in 2001 when 15-seed Hampton knocked out my 2-seed Cyclones (who had admittedly overachieved that season), while I smarted at the loss as a fan of the Cyclones, I was also--as a fan of the Game--tickled to see the joy of those kids who just went out and played with nothing to lose, and won.
Those kind of moments make a big part of tournamant memories for me, and I think for many others. And so, for that reason, while I agree that those teams are not going to win it (and by that perhaps don't belong), I want them to stay.

If we want to get rid of teams that don't belong perhaps we reduce the size of the tournament to 32 teams and simply take the top 32 teams. But I'm guessing you wouldn't favor that approach. Am I right?

I agree with the majority of the sentiments here. No automatic qualifier should play in the "play-in" games. It should be the last 8 at-large teams, all playing for the 12th seeds.

If that's the case, I wonder if that will lead to fewer 12-over-5 upsets, or possibly more. Thoughts?

People have suggested that the play-in game participants are being punished. To play devil's advocate, the teams that have particated in the play-in game have had very positive views of the experience. University of Dayton runs a top-notch event in hosting the play-in game. The two teams are treated like royalty. They get to play in a packed house of 8-11 thousand fans who are actually interested in the game (as someone who's attended several 1-16 first round games, the arena is often sparsely attended, and there isn't much interest unless it's one of those rare games that ends up being competitive). And they get a prime time spot on ESPN all to themselves, where their game is showed in its entirety. How many 1-16 games get much TV time at all?